The Wait For 'Sonic The Hedgehog' Was Totally Worth It Thanks To His Redesign

Last Friday (Nov. 8), a new live-action version of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog was set for release. That all changed earlier this year after the first trailer dropped, and Sonic's nightmare-inducing design was revealed for the first time. Fans were understandably outraged (and honestly scared) of how Sonic looked, but Paramount took the criticism on board and pushed its release date back for a total redesign. So when is Sonic The Hedgehog out in the UK?

After Paramount debuted the trailer this April, director Jeff Fowler and the team working on the film were given 12 months to reach the new release date of Feb. 14, 2020. Judging by the new trailer and the reaction it's receiving, it looks like they're right on track.

Gone are the terrifyingly human proportions and weirdly realistic teeth, as they've been replaced with a much more cartoon-looking Sonic. The designers have taken the iconic aspects of Sega's mascot and adapted them to blend into the real-world setting. Sonic's eyes are back to being huge and expressive instead of being proportioned like a real hedgehog, his iconic gloves have made a welcome comeback replacing the weirdly humanoid hands... basically, Sonic just looks like he should have done in the first place.

Sure, this Sonic isn't exactly what he looks like in the video games. His eyes are much larger but aren't joined, and his arms are blue instead of being the same colour as his snout and stomach. But overall, this redesign is ten times better than it was initially.

One of the main reasons why this redesign has worked so well is because Paramount enlisted the help of Sonic Mania's opening title sequence designer Tyson Hesse. As culture site io9 writes, he's also worked on Archie Comics Sonic series, as well as providing "line art on the miniseries Sonic: Mega Drive and its follow up, The Next Level."

Even though fans are glad that Paramount listened and actually made Sonic look like, well, Sonic, actor Jim Carrey (who plays Sonic's nemesis Dr Eggman) wasn't too sure. "I don't know quite how I feel about the audience being in on the creation of it, while it's happening," he said during the Television Critics Association press tour in August (via movie website Cinema Blend). "So we'll have to see what that entails." He continued:

"Because sometimes you find that the collective consciousness decides it wants something. And then when it gets it, it goes 'Ok, I wanted it. I didn't care about it. I'll just jump on the bandwagon or whatever.' But I don't know what's going to happen. I have no idea."

Hopefully, now that the redesign has dropped Carrey can feel somewhat at ease with Paramount's decision to listen to the fans. Because it's safe to say the hype for this live-action adaptation of Sonic is well and truly real.